Car buying guide – new cars

Buying a new car is probably the second most expensive item you will ever buy, after your house. It can be both an exciting, but also a stressful experience. Hopefully, with our short guide to purchasing a new car, we will take some of the stress away for you, so you can concentrate on the enjoyable experience that car buying should be!

Budget

Once you have decided to purchase a new car, have a good think about your finances and how you are going to pay for your purchase. Set a budget at the outset, if you are intending to pay outright for the car then great, if you intend paying monthly on a finance deal then spend some time setting a monthly budget and looking at all options. There are various ways to pay for a car these days, from a 0% credit card if it is a smaller amount, to personal bank loans or finance offered by the car dealer. Whatever you choose, make sure you can afford it and read all the terms and conditions attached to your various finance options.

Assess your needs

Now you have got the finance out of the way, think about the type of car you need. Have you got an extended family, and need to use a car with seven seats regularly? Or are you the young single professional that could get away with a 2 seater sports coupe? You are likely to be keeping the car for a few years, so it is also worth considering how your life, and so car needs could change in the near future. When you visit car dealers, make sure you test drive your potential new vehicle. Many car manufacturer’s will allow you to have a 24 or even 72 hour test drive of a vehicle if you are serious about a purchase.

Shop around

Just because one main dealer of a particular brand will not agree to a certain price you hoped to get for your part exchange car does not mean a second dealer of the same brand will not. Very often there is a better offer out there, so if you are not happy make sure you do not agree to anything and look elsewhere first before making any decisions.

Think about running costs

Running costs will be a big decision maker for many people. If you do many miles then consider how much you are likely to spend on fuel. Think about whether you need a petrol or diesel car. Diesel cars are more expensive to buy, but often deliver better fuel economy. However, there are many very fuel efficient petrol engines out there now, so diesel may not always be the answer.